Australia will be sending their largest ever team of track and field athletes to an overseas Olympics in Paris later this month with the 75-strong squad taking the overall delegation of competitors to a final 460.
The overall delegation is the second largest for a Games since Australia hosted in Sydney, 16 athletes fewer than represented the country and won 17 gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
“The athletics team is the largest of any sport and they will contribute greatly to the positive environment of the broader team,” Chef de Mission Anna Meares said in a statement.
“Today’s announcement finalises our Australian Olympic team at 460 athletes - I am so excited for Australians to see this team represent them with pride and determination in under three weeks’ time,” Meares said.
World champion pole vaulter Nina Kennedy and two Tokyo bronze medallists, decathlete Ash Moloney and javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber, headline the track and field squad to which 55 athletes were added on Monday.
“I have a very clear definition of what success means to me, and that is being able to walk away from the Olympic final knowing I’ve done everything I possibly could have,” said Kennedy.
“If that wins a gold medal, amazing, and if it doesn’t then I can walk away with no regrets.”
Barber will form part of three-strong entry for the women’s javelin with Mackenzie Little, who won bronze at last year’s world championships, and 41-year-old Kathryn Mitchell, who will be appearing at a fourth Games.
Australia will send men’s and women’s 4x100m relay squads to Paris for the first time since the 2000 Games on home soil in Sydney and compete in 39 of the 48 athletics events.
The women’s sprint relay team will feature Torrie Lewis, the teenager who beat Sha’carri Richardson and the rest of a strong field to win the 200m on her Diamond League debut in Xiamen. “After having such an amazing year getting the official selection is just a relief,” the 19-year-old said. “I’ve always thought I could make an individual event, but actually getting the call is so exciting.”
Jackson back for 5th Olympics
At 43, Lauren Jackson will compete at a remarkable fifth Olympic Games to add another chapter to a career that has already seen her collect three silver medals (2000, 2004, 2008) and a bronze (2012) from the Olympics alone, among a list of accolades that includes being a three-time WNBA MVP, the all-time scoring leader in the Olympic tournament and Australia’s opening ceremony Flag Bearer at London 2012.
Jackson’s path to Paris was hardly assured. It was only in February when she declared ‘I’m done’ after helping the Opals qualify for Paris with an 85-52 victory over Germany in Brazil, the same country where she captained the Opals to the 2006 FIBA World Championship crown.
“Brazil has been very good to me,” Lauren said at the time. “How fitting that I get to finish my national career with Australia in Brazil. It’s very special.”
With the help of Basketball Australia and her family, Jackson will have the support network in place to allow her to travel with her sons and be a central part of the Australian medal push, some 24 years after her Olympic debut as a 19-year-old in Sydney 2000.
“It’s been a lot for me. I’ve had to process a lot. I’ve had some pretty significant injuries the last couple of years,” Jackson said.
“When I came out of retirement, I never anticipated it would get back to this point, especially after the injuries I had last year. So there has been a lot of discussion with my family, my kids, it’s really impacted them, the training and the sacrifice that they have made, with me being away as much as I have.
“I’ve continued training while having these discussions. I put myself in the best situation I possibly could.
“There are a lot of factors, my body, my knee, but I will give it a red hot crack.”
She will join Andrew Gaze, Patty Mills and Joe Ingles as the only Australian basketballers to play at five Olympics.